Also heading in the right direction are AB de Villiers, who is on third place, and Hashim Amla, who is seventh.

Rahane claimed a career-high 10th position in the latest ICC Test Player Rankings.

Ajinkya Rahane climbed up the ladder to 10th and is now the only Indian batsman in the latest list of the ICC Test Player Rankings issued on Thursday. England’s duo of Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes have made impressive gains after stellar performances in the Cape Town Test against South Africa.

Bairstow scored 150 not out, his maiden Test century, and 30 not out which have helped him vault 11 places to a career-high 32nd position. He is now England’s third highest-ranked batsman after Joe Root (fourth) and Alastair Cook (12th).

Stokes has also been rewarded for his career-best 258, which was followed by 26, with a jump of 15 places that has now put him in 38th position. He trails Bairstow by 32 points and six places.

Also heading in the right direction are AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla, who have gained one place each. De Villiers is now third and 18 points behind number-one ranked Steve Smith while Amla is seventh after scoring 201.

Outside the top 20, there were movements for Faf du Plessis to 29th (up by one place), Kraigg Brathwaite to 33rd (up by three places), Moeen Ali to 52nd (up by four places) and Denesh Ramdin to 58th (up by six places).

South Africa’s Temba Bavuma and the West Indies’ Carlos Brathwaite were the biggest movers in the latest updates.

Bavuma, who scored 102 not out, has rocketed 27 places to 82nd spot while Brathwaite has also jumped 27 places to 83rdafter scoring 69 in the rain-affected Sydney Test against Australia.

In the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, Australia’s James Pattinson has continued to make upward movement. The fast bowler is now in 23rd position after gaining two places following figures of two for 76.

The bowlers’ list is headed by India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, with Dale Steyn second and Stuart Broad third. Steyn and Broad are separated by just five points.

Meanwhile, in the ICC Test Championship table, both Australia and West Indies have retained their pre-series rankings and points. Australia had started the series in third place on 109 points while the West Indies was eighth on 76 points.

The ICC Test Championship table will now be updated at the conclusion of South Africa-England series, while the Test player rankings will be updated after the Johannesburg Test, which starts on 14 January.

ICC Test Championship table (as on 7 January after the conclusion of Australia-West Indies Test series)

Rank

Team

Points

1

South Africa

114

2

India

110

3

Australia

109

4

Pakistan

106

5

New Zealand

99

6

England

99

7

Sri Lanka

89

8

West Indies

76

9

Bangladesh

47

10

Zimbabwe

5

ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 7 January after the conclusion of Australia-West Indies Test series)

Batsmen (Top 10)

Rank

(+/-)

Player

Team

Pts

1

( - )

Steve Smith

Aus

899

2

( - )

Kane Williamson

NZ

889

3

(+1)

AB de Villiers

SA

881

4

(-1)

Joe Root

Eng

873

5

( - )

David Warner

Aus

854

6

( - )

Younus Khan

Pak

826

7

(+1)

Hashim Amla

SA

823

8

(-1)

Angelo Mathews

SL

808

9

(+1)

Misbah-ul-Haq

Pak

764

10=

(+1)

Ajinkya Rahane

Ind

753!

(+1)

Adam Voges

Aus

753!

Bowlers (Top 10)

Rank

(+/-)

Player

Team

Pts

1

( - )

R.Ashwin

Ind

2

( - )

Dale Steyn

SA

858

3

( - )

Stuart Broad

Eng

853

4

( - )

Yasir Shah

Pak

846!

5

( - )

James Anderson

Eng

828

6

( - )

Ravindra Jadeja

Ind

789!

7

( - )

Trent Boult

NZ

787

8

( - )

Josh Hazlewood

Aus

741*

9=

( - )

Vernon Philaner

SA

731

( - )

Tim Southee

NZ

731

All-rounders (Top 5)

Rank

(+/-)

Player

Team

Pts

1

( - )

R.Ashwin

Ind

406

2

( - )

Shakib Al Hasan

Ban

384

3

( - )

Stuart Broad

Eng

324

4

( - )

Vernon Philander

SA

287*/

5

( - )

Ravindra Jadeja

Ind

259*/*!

*indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets.!indicates career-highest rating.